The knot

<p>I'm sure this has been posted a quadrillion times but I need to know the truth. Is the knot worth it for advertising? They quoted me a price of $3000 for 2 print ads. Like hello! That's wayyy expensive for a photographer like me just starting out. Other photographers told me that the online knot.com is so flooded with photographers that its not worth it to waste your money. I would really like to hear ONLY from people who have advertised in the knot before and if you think it made a difference in your business. Did you do online or print? Would you recommend it?</p>

<p>God Bless,<br>

Kay</p>

<p>I never put any advertising with them. After the research, it really wasn't worth it for a photographer just starting out. When we first started we were worried about getting out a lot of advertising, but word of mouth has worked the best. And thats free :)</p>

<p>have you seen the magazine? the ads in the back are so small and cluttered i wonder if any brides actually even bother to pay attention to them..</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Kay -</p>

<p>I did an online trial ad with them a couple of years ago... All I got were price shoppers...</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

<p>David- I just contacted them and they said they do not give free trial ads??</p>

<p>of course not..they want ur money.i think what david meant was that he paid to try it out and didn't work.</p>

<p>i also love how they say that if it doesn't work out for you, it must be your business model that is the problem and not them...</p>

<p>Ohhhh I see. Yeah the price is absolutely ridiculous. There must be a better way. Even if I had a successful studio I couldn't imagine giving $4000 to the knot. Like really??</p>

<p>Price shoppers in large metro areas... In some areas it's worth it but in larger markets... not (pardon the pun)</p>

<p>I advertised there for a couple years and all was well. I got some inquiries (but not as many, nor as qualified as those I got from WPJA) and a couple bookings a year. However, my ad cost 2.5k per year and when I tried to cancel.... well lets just say it was less than respectful or helpful on their end.</p>

<p>Nope, not for me. Never again.</p>

<p>BTW, once in a while I get published in a mag (elegant bride this year) or two and even with an editorial page all to myself, the return is just average compared to other sources. YMMV.</p>

<p>Mary is right - it's probably worth it in some areas, but in others photographers are saturated. Only you know if your area is saturated via that advertising method.<br>

I can say that when we were considering advertising methods, we booked two weddings via an ad on craigslist - both brides were active on theknot.com. Once they started recommeding us on their local boards, we haven't spent a penny on advertising on sites like theknot, weddingchannel, etc. Our word of mouth recommendations have booked us almost 40 weddings this year alone, so my personal opinion is theknot isn't necessary if you have a good business model and brides willing to share their positive experiences.</p>

<p>Take the $3000 and put it aside to spend making prints and little albums for location vendors and other vendors in your area ... the prints and small albums can contain photos of that vendors work or product.</p>

<p>That creates a long lasting impression with local vendors who can sell you to brides in your area; it's money well spent.</p>

<p>Sorry - not enough caffeine - yes, I paid to try them. It didn't work. Price shoppers / window shoppers / whatever you choose to call it... 1 booking... it wasn't worth it. </p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

<p>Strange. I do get price shoppers from theknot but I do book a fair number of weddings each year, more than enough to pay for the cost of the ad annually. No other online advertising resource I tried came even close, and I now ONLY advertise on theknot.com<br>

Is my market saturated? Probably. I'm in Manhattan. : )<br>

Word of Mouth and referrals still provide me the most business, though. Having free site ads out there do help with search engine optimization, so that's worth the time just to put it out there.</p>

 

<p>Basically worthless-I had the $80 a month online ad for a year, and booked one wedding through it out of maybe 10 leads. As was mentioned in another post, $3,000 will buy a lot of prints, business cards, and other materials to distribute around to venues and other vendors. And you'll still have money left over to do some sample albums, and some nice 'above and beyond' touches for your clients, like a free print or small album, which will generate way more good will and word of mouth than the Knot ever could.</p>

<p>Your best bet would be to work on your own website, so that you are getting found directly by the brides and other potential clients you are looking for. Check out this company, HubSpot--several photographers I know have used them with great success:<br>

<a href="http://www.hubspot.com">www.hubspot.com</a></p>

 

<p>We have used the knot consistently for a couple years now. I don't think the print ads are worth it at all, print media is really where brides look for dresses and ideas, but not usually for photographers, IMO. However, we pay to be on the front page of the local photographers and we get a good amount of business. Our market, like most major cities, is saturated, but our photography is different enough to set us apart from the large portion of traditional photographers here. Their customer service, however, is virtually non-existent, and I wouldn't recommend upgrading your package with any of their email "offers", I'm steal dealing with that nightmare! But we do get brides from there so we deal, for now.</p>